CHAPTER ELEVEN ISI
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ISI
Iturned to my ladies with what I hoped was a gracious smile. “I need to rest. Please return in time to help me get ready for dinner. Lexie will remain here with me. I’d like to get to know her better.”
Mae’s hand found my arm, her fingers tight and her gaze searching. Her attention moved between me, Lexie, and Trew, assessing, calculating, the weight of a lifetime’s friendship in that single touch.
The other ladies curtsied and filed toward the door, but Mae remained.
“Are you certain you’re alright?” She pitched the question low, meaning it only for me.
The concern in her voice made my throat swell. Mae had lost Leo, had stood beside me through Addie’s supposed death, and had watched me break under my father’s expectations and still found a way to show she would protect me.
“I am.”
Before she could leave, I caught her hand and pulled her into a hug.
She went rigid before softening, her arms coming around me. “Princess?”
“You can trust them,” I whispered against her ear. “I promise you, Mae. They’re here to help.”
She pulled back, her gaze cutting to Trew, then Lexie, her assessment sharp and thorough. Whatever she saw must have satisfied her because she nodded.
“I’m fine.” I covered her hand with mine. “But I’m hungry. Could you bring lunch? Something substantial, with plenty of honey cakes if there are any left.”
She hesitated, doubt flickering across her features.
“Please, Mae. I trust you.”
The words hung between us, carrying more weight than she could fully understand. I was asking her to trust me in return, to leave me alone with strangers without demanding explanations I couldn’t give.
Finally, she nodded, though reluctance showed in every line of her body. “I’ll return shortly.”
The door closed behind her with a sharp snick.
Trew moved immediately, weaving wards. The air in the room shifted, pressure building and releasing as layers of them snapped into place.
The temperature dropped, then warmed again.
He checked the corners and tested the windows, his magic flaring at each contact point, double-checking every detail until he was satisfied.
Only then did his shoulders drop a fraction, his hands loosening from the fists they’d formed.
I crossed to Lexie and pulled her into my arms, half-jumping because I was so excited to see her.
She hugged me back with the same fierce joy, her laugh bright against my cheek. “I missed you, you absolute fool.”
“I missed you too.” Emotion caught in my throat.
Pherin swooped from her perch by the window, landing on Lexie’s shoulder with a peep. She rubbed her tiny head against Lexie’s cheek, preening with all the self-importance of a creature who knew she could transform into a firecat and devour anyone who threatened her chosen people.
“Hello to you too, beautiful.” Lexie scratched under Pherin’s chin, earning a trill.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
“It was quite easy, actually. We flew, of course, though we had to leave the dragons some distance away.” Her grin rose. “We’re all here. Well, Kerralyn and Derren, that is.”
My heart stuttered. “Why?”
“Did you really think we’d let you do this alone?” She gestured broadly, encompassing the castle beyond my chambers. “We shook hands, remember? We’re your court advisors now. You don’t get to sneak off on wild missions without us.”
“Where are the others?” I glanced toward the window, half expecting to see them pop their heads through the opening.
“Oh, around.” Lexie’s eyes sparkled with mischief, though it faded fast. “We didn’t dare bring our companions with us. It would be much too dangerous. They weren’t happy to be left behind, but what else could we do?”
Trew cleared his throat.
Lexie spun and threw her arms around him.
He went absolutely still.
So did she.
I watched the exact moment realization hit. She’d just grabbed her king without permission or protocol or any of the careful formality that should exist between ruler and subject.
Lexie jerked back, her eyes wide. “Fates, I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I didn’t— I wasn’t thinking.”
But Trew was smiling, the expression transforming his disguised features into something warm and genuine and so completely him that it made my heart spasm. It was one of the first real smiles I’d seen since he’d arrived at Caldrith.
“It’s fine, Lexie.” His voice carried none of the stiffness of a king addressing a subject. Just a man grateful for friends who rode into danger without being asked.
She relaxed, though color still stained her cheeks. “Well. Good. Gavelle brought us the message that you’d done your part, and we were eager to do our own.”
I watched them, my two worlds coming together in this trap of a room. Trew, who’d worn a crown and commanded armies, letting himself be hugged by someone who saw him as a person first. Lexie, who’d become my friend during trials designed to kill us, refusing to let me face this new nightmare alone.
The realization warmed and ached in equal measure.
A knock at the door rang out.
Trew’s hand dropped to his sword as he moved to answer it, his body shifting back into bodyguard mode. He checked the wards first, a subtle flare of magic, before opening the door.
Mae entered with a tray so laden with food it should’ve required two people to carry. Roasted chicken and fresh bread, cheese and fruit, plus delicate pastries that smelled of honey and cinnamon. Steam rose from a large pot of tea, the scent familiar and comforting.
She knew I hadn’t been eating properly, and she could see the stress in every line of my body and in the shadows under my eyes. This was her way of showing she cared when she couldn’t ask questions.
“Thank you, Mae.” I watched her set the tray on the low table near the fireplace. “It looks perfect.”
She straightened, her eyes moving between the three of us again. Calculating. “I’ll be nearby if you need me.”
The outer door closed behind her.
“She knows something’s wrong,” Lexie said.
“She’s known me my entire life.” I moved to the table, suddenly ravenous despite the knot of anxiety in my belly. “She’s loyal. She won’t betray us.”
“Even to her king?” Trew asked, his voice carefully neutral.
“Especially to him.” I thought of Leo, Mae’s grief, and all the small rebellions she’d witnessed in my rooms and never reported. “She’s Leo’s mother.”
“Ah.” Lexie nodded. “If you trust her, I do too.”
We settled around the food, Trew positioning himself in the chair with a clear view of the door and windows. Even sitting, reaching for bread and cheese, he remained on guard. One hand stayed free, ready to grab his sword.
He couldn’t stop protecting me, not even for a moment.
Pherin hopped onto the table, stealing a piece of chicken and dragging it to the edge where she devoured it with enthusiastic pecking. When Lexie reached for the same serving dish, Pherin hissed at her, all fluffed teal and silver feathers, with a healthy dose of attitude.
“She’s lovely,” Lexie said dryly.
“She knows it, too.” I watched my companion with affection. She was tiny, ridiculous, and absolutely convinced of her own power, as she should be.
Lexie poured tea for us all. War planning over food. Treason over well steeped herbs.
“So,” Lexie said, settling back in her chair with her cup cradled in both hands. “Tell me why you returned here. King Trewyn sent word that you had and suggested we follow.”
I explained about Commander Thorne’s letter and how I’d searched the dungeon for Addie. “She wasn’t there.”
Lexie’s eyes sharpened. “And Thorne’s missing with a woman. You think it’s her.”
“I don’t know. If he took her and fled—”
“He could be protecting her,” Lexie said. “Hiding her somewhere your father can’t reach.”
The possibility made my hands shake. I set down my cup before I could drop it.
Trew came over to settle beside me, close enough that I felt the warmth of him, the solid presence that had become my anchor. His hand found mine, weaving our fingers together. His thumb stroked my palm, a silent promise.
I explained about Thorne’s house and our plan to go there tomorrow.
“Her father assigned four guards to escort us.” Trew’s jaw tightened, frustration bleeding through his careful control. “Four witnesses to every move we make.” His hand curled into a fist on his thigh.
“I’ll take care of the guards,” Lexie said with a casual flick of her hand.
“How?” I asked. “They’ll report everything back to him.”
“Leave it to me.” Lexie’s slick smile rose. “I’ve got a plan. What else is happening here that we need to know about?”
“There are other prisoners, people accused of using magic down in the dungeon,” I said. “They’ll be killed on the Day of Mercy in eleven days.” My voice hardened. “We’re going to free all of them.”
Lexie nodded. “Of course we are.”
I also told her that my father had told me I must choose a husband from among my suitors within the same timeframe or he’d choose for me, and how he was gathering an army to attack Syllavar.
Pherin stole a honey cake twice her size, dragging it across the table while chirping. It tumbled off the edge as a sharp knock sounded at the door.
Lexie and I froze.
Trew left the sofa, his hand on his sword. He opened the door to find two guards in the hall. They peered into the room.
“You’re not allowed to be alone with the princess inside her chambers,” one growled.
My father's standing order was being enforced.
Lexie stood and sashayed over to stand between Trew and the guards. “As you can see, the princess is not alone.” She stared down her nose at them. “I am one of her ladies-in-waiting. I am also with her at this time.” She pointed down the hall. “Go or I’ll summon the court advisors to chastise you.”
They blinked fast before their gazes flickered between Trew and I.
Lexie swung the door shut, slamming it in their faces.
“It sure is hard to find decent guards nowadays, isn’t it?” Lexie strutted back over to sit beside me. She raised her teacup in a toast. “To treason.”
Trew’s laugh rumbled through the room as he returned and lifted his own cup. “I’ll drink to that.”
Pherin, ripping away at a honey cake, paused to peep in agreement.